An inkjet printing mechanism, such as a printer, a facsimile machine, plotter, copier, photo-printer, postal franking machine, fabric printer, etc., may contain one or more pens, such as one black and three color pens. Each pen contains an orifice plate defining a plurality of ink-ejecting nozzles. During operation, ink discharged from the nozzles may form a residue that adheres to the orifice plate, which may build up over time.
Inkjet mechanism wiping systems are used in cleaning the orifice plate. A cleaning process by which residue is removed from the orifice plate involves an orifice plate wiper, which dislodges and removes the residue. This wiping process can transfer some of the residue to the snout surface of the pen, which is typically perpendicular to the orifice plate.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an orifice plate 100 of a pen 102 is covered with residue 104. A nozzle wiper 106 having first and second blades 108, 110 is used to remove the residue from the orifice plate. A globule 112 of residue may be present on one or both of the blades, due to prior contact between the blades and the orifice plate.
As seen in FIG. 1B, contact between the wiper blades and the pen may cause formation of a deposit 114 of residue on the snout surface 116 of the pen 102. New globules 118 of residue form on the blades of the wiper, as they moved relative to the pen.
As seen in FIG. 1C, the residue carried by the orifice plate is removed by the wiper 106. However, the new globules 118 of residue that have formed on the blades of the wiper may be added to the deposit 114 of residue which has formed on the snout surface 116 of the pen 102 when the orifice place 100 is cleaned at a later time.
If residue is allowed to build up on the snout surface, contact between the residuexe2x80x94or fibers carried by the residuexe2x80x94and print media may result in print defects. As seen in FIG. 1D, a fiber 120 has become attached to the deposit 114 of residue on the snout surface 116. The fiber may be cellulose or similar material derived from paper media, lint, hair or other elongated material. During a printing operation, the fiber 120 may come into contact with the paper media 122, resulting in a condition known as xe2x80x9cfiber tracking.xe2x80x9d Fiber tracking is reminiscent of the action taken by a paint brush, wherein ink recently deposited is smeared on the print media. Where the deposit 114 grows sufficiently in size, the deposit itself may contact or fall onto the print media, thereby applying unwanted ink to the media, and moving ink already deposited on the media. Where ink residue comes into contact with electrical connections associated with the inkjet printing mechanism, xe2x80x9cink shortsxe2x80x9d may result, due to the electrical conductivity of the ink.
A snout wiper assembly includes a support member, a supported member and a snout wiper. The support member defines a travel slot. The supported member is movable along the travel slot between a wiping position and a resting position. The snout wiper is carried by the supported member.